Janus Films Presents: Charlie Chaplin

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janusfilms — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:24:57 +0000

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A King in New York

admin — Sun, 15 Jun 1958 00:01:15 +0000

Forced out of the U.S. in 1952, Chaplin lashed back with this scathing satire of everything American – from McCarthyist witch hunts to CinemaScope and rock’n'roll – as he plays his last full role, a deposed and impoverished monarch seeking refuge in Manhattan (though the film was shot in the United Kingdom).

-synopsis courtesy Film Forum repertory calendar

Limelight

admin — Sun, 15 Jun 1952 00:01:39 +0000

Chaplin’s Limelight is a glimmering homage to what was, a proud look at a bygone entertainment era and a bittersweet tale of an artist passing the torch to a new generation. Chaplin portrays Calvero (the “Tramp Comedian” per an old theatrical poster in his room), who rescues a distraught ballerina (Claire Bloom) from suicide and mentors her to success. Among the film’s comedy highlights is a musical routine that’s anything but routine in the hands of legends Chaplin and stone-faced Buster Keaton. The extraordinary score by Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell earned the screen legend his only competitive Oscar®.

-synopsis courtesy MK2 & Warner Bros.

Monsieur Verdoux

admin — Sun, 15 Jun 1947 00:01:40 +0000

Monsieur Verdoux is handled by The Film Desk.

Click here for more information.

The Gold Rush

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 1942 00:01:17 +0000

In search of gold in turn-of-the-century Alaska, Charlie takes refuge with fellow prospector Mack Swain in an isolated, comically-imbalanced cabin, where hunger forces him to eat that famous shoe. The masterpiece that features more great Chaplin moments than any other: the dance of the rolls, the cabin tottering over the cliff, the giant chicken, etc. etc. This version features Chaplin’s own music and poetic narration, added for his 1942 reissue.

-synopsis courtesy Film Forum repertory calendar

The Great Dictator

admin — Sat, 15 Jun 1940 00:01:28 +0000

The U.S. was not yet in World War II when Chaplin leveled his comedy arsenal at Der Führer by playing the dual roles of Hitler-like Adenoid Hynkel and a Jewish barber who is a dead-ringer for der Nutsie. Puns, sight gags and slapstick abound as Chaplin skewers fascism, balancing his attack with poignant scenes of a ghetto in the clutches of storm-trooping terror.

-synopsis courtesy Film Forum repertory calendar

Modern Times

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 1936 00:01:14 +0000

The Little Tramp punches in and wigs out inside a factory where gizmos like an employee-feeding machine may someday make the lunch hour last just 15 minutes. Bounced into the ranks of the unemployed, he teams with a street waif (Paulette Goddard) to pursue bliss and a paycheck, finding misadventures as a roller-skating night watchman, a singing waiter whose hilarious song is gibberish, a jailbird and more. In the end, as Tramp and waif walk arm and arm into an insecure future, we know they’ve found neither bliss nor a paycheck but, more importantly, each other.

-synopsis courtesy MK2 & Warner Bros.

City Lights

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 1931 00:01:38 +0000

City Lights begins with an uproarious skewering of pomp and formality, ends with one of the most famous last shots in movie history and, from start to finish, so completely touches the heart and tickles the funny bone that in 1998 it was named one of the American Film Institute’s Top-100 American Films.

Talkies were well entrenched when Charles Chaplin swam against the filmmaking tide with this classic that is silent except for music and sound effects. The story, involving the Tramp’s attempts to get money for an operation that will restore sight to a blind flower girl, provides the star with an ideal framework for sentiment and laughs. The Tramp is variously a street sweeper, a boxer, a rich poseur, and a rescuer of a suicidal millionaire. His message is unspoken, but universally understood: love is blind.

-synopsis courtesy MK2 & Warner Bros.

The Circus

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 1928 00:01:41 +0000

When we first meet Chaplin’s Tramp in this comic gem, he’s in typical straits: broke, hungry, destined to fall in love and just as sure to lose the girl. Mistaken for a pickpocket and pursued by a peace officer into a circus tent, the Tramp becomes a star when delighted patrons think his escape from John Law is an act.

At the first-ever Academy Awards® ceremony, Charles Chaplin was honored with a special statuette “for versatility and genius in writing, acting, directing and producing The Circus.” And, it went without saying, for again bringing laughter to packed movie palaces across America.

-synopsis courtesy MK2 & Warner Bros.

A Woman of Paris

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 1923 00:02:13 +0000

“The first serious drama written and directed by myself,” goes the opening title. For his première United Artists release, Chaplin chose a sophisticated drama sans himself (apart from a heavily-disguised cameo), with frequent leading lady Edna Purviance as the eponymous femme kept by rich philanderer Adolphe Menjou.

-synopsis courtesy Film Forum Repertory calendar.